The Detroit Red Wings play great hockey during the regular season, but can never seem to make it into a playoff berth. The Wings have an issue with slumping in March, the start of crunch time for teams in the wild card race, trying to secure those two coveted playoff spots. However, with such important hockey being played compared to the rest of the year, why do the Red Wings slump during this time instead of any other time in the year? We will be taking a look at those reasons, and then giving some reviews on the most important game played in March, player and coaching staff reviews and grades, and the opinion of some fans of the Red Wings.
There were many notable and important games played in March. The undisputedly most important game is the Stadium Series game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. A game not just important because it was being played at the legendary Ohio football stadium, but also because going into the game the Wings and Blue Jackets were tied in standings with 66 points respectively.
On game day, Wings fans had high hopes that the March curse wouldn’t make itself known in this game. With shiny new jerseys, the Detroit Red Wings skated onto the ice at the Ohio Stadium. However, the March curse appeared: The Wings lost the game 5-3 in a close game up until the end.
When the game was tied 3-3, Blue Jackets’ player Justin Danforth got on a breakaway. With Red Wings defenseman, Simon Edvinsson, close on his tail, Danforth raised his stick and raked it along Edvinsson’s face. Now, all alone with goaltender Cam Talbot, Danforth’s first shot hit Talbot and rebounded, Danforth wouldn’t miss a second time.
Red Wings fans at home and in the stadium in shock looked at every referee on the ice. Not one of them had their hand up for a penalty call on Danforth’s obvious high sticking on Edvinsson. This immediately took the wind out of the sails for the red wings and they would be scored on again before the game ended, allowing The Columbus Blue Jackets to take top spot in the wild card and push The Red Wings to second place. While not out of playoff contention yet, in the following games the Red Wings would drop out of the second spot ending up at the fifth mark to end the month.
Although the season didn’t go as the fans wanted it to, Great players stood out for The Detroit Red Wings this month and over the season. I’ll be going over the highlight players and giving them a season report card.
Dylan Larkin, #71, Center, Captain
Season grade: B
Dylan (Larks) Larkin had a fairly average year for his standards in the 2025 season, scoring 30 goals and netting 40 assists. But his year could’ve been much better if it hadn’t been for The Four Nations Tournament. Dylan confirmed in interviews after the season ended that a big reason he wasn’t producing as much as he did before he participated in Four Nations was because while playing, he sustained several different injuries and played through them when coming back to the Red Wings.
Moritz Seider, #53, Defenseman
Season grade: A
Moritz (Mo) Seider had a fantastic year as usual. He is easily the best defenseman on the roster for the Red Wings year in and year out. Scoring eight goals which is not bad for a defenseman, and netting a very impressive 46 assists. The presence Mo Seider has in the defense is unmatched by most defenseman in the league, always the hardest worker on the ice, fantastic season from the now German International Captain.
Lucas Raymond, #23, Left Winger
Season grade: A
Lucas (Razor) Raymond is still proving to be one of the best young talents across the entire NHL, Raymond has an affinity for showing up big during important moments. Earning himself a saying made by Ken Daniels of the Red Wings Broadcast Team, “Everybody, Loves Raymond”. Lucas had a good year offensively, scoring 27 goals, and netting a fantastic 53 assists. Raymond also stepped up his defense game this season after the coaching staff changed, playing more key roles on the ice and getting more turnovers and steals creating more scoring opportunities.
Patrick Kane, #88, Right Winger
Season grade: B
Patrick (Showtime) Kane showed everyone again this year that you can have a hip replaced and still have a great season in the show. With a flair for the big moments, Patrick Kane scored 21 goals and netted 38 assists. Most of his assists went to setting up his long time friend and dynamic duo partner, Alex DeBrincat. Any of the 38 assists he had this season are sure to be on his career highlight reel.
Alex DeBrincat, #93, Right Winger
Season grade: A
Alex (Cat) DeBrincat had himself a year in the 2025 season. While starting the year scoring a normal amount of goals, around halfway through the season the Cat started getting hot. Not just any kind of hot, Red hot. With the help of his best friend and teammate Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat scored an unreal 39 goals this season. As well as netting 31 assists, It’s hard to believe while scoring so many goals he had time to pass the puck as well.
The coaching staff changed early in the season, giving the Red Wings a much-needed boost in point production and wins almost instantly. The past coach, Derek Lalonde, had completely lost the locker room, and nobody respected him or how he coached the team. The philosophy that Lalonde tried to put into place didn’t work, and the fans saw it and were not pleased with what they were seeing. General Manager, Steve Yzerman, gave Lalonde some time during the outcry by the fans to try and get the room together and start winning more games and playing better hockey. When Yzerman saw it wasn’t in the best interest of the team to keep Lalonde, new head coach Todd McLellan was hired to right the capsizing ship that was the Red Wings locker room. McLellan got a running start and skated the players all practice and got into their minds that they need to play better hockey, they’ve been doing it their whole life. Mark Johnson, an accomplished hockey player and coach, had a positive opinion on the new coaches.
“I like the coaching change. There’s a different voice in the room with him. McLellan has a better coaching philosophy than LaLonde did and gets more out of this team than he did. Todd lets them play.” Johnson said. Getting more out of your team plays a crucial role in how your team performs and how they respect you. Overall, after the coaching change, the Detroit Red Wings got better as a team and moved the puck as one unit, instead of individuals all playing their own game of hockey.
The Detroit Red Wings made several trades and moves before the season started. Three notable trades were made in order to improve the teams offensive and defensive capabilities. Those three being Valdamir Tarasenko, Cam Talbot and Erik Gustafsson. These players were brought in to make the team better.
Vladimir Tarasenko, #11, Right Winger
Vladimir Tarasenko was brought into the Detroit Red Wings to add more goals and assists to the team, as well as a veteran. Tarasenko has had extensive playoff experience and has won a Stanley Cup before, leaving fans with high hopes when the trade was announced. However, Tarasenko was underwhelming overall, only scoring 11 goals and netting 22 assists. One positive he had as a player is, he was always working hard when he got on the ice.
Cam Talbot, #39, Goaltender
Cam Talbot was brought to Detroit to help with our goaltending issues. Did he help with our issues? Yes, even though the stats don’t really reflect it with a 2.93 goals against average, Talbot was an excellent addition for this season as a temporary fix. He had many great games where he was putting up a wall in front of the net, although in other games, he seemed to let every shot in. However, That’s more of a defense issue, as the Red Wings have a habit of leaving goaltenders out to dry.
Erik Gustafsson, #56, Defenseman
Erik Gustafsson was traded to the Red Wings in order to be an offensive defenceman. Meant to drive into the zone, shoot the puck, and score. Although, that’s not exactly what Gustafsson did throughout the season, scoring a disappointing two goals and netting a mediocre 16 assists. This ended up being a disappointing season from a promising player who was supposed to boost scoring.
Watching the Detroit Red Wings in March has been frustrating as fans watch the problems get worse and worse. Cracks in the goaltending and injuries stacking up high are some of the main reasons. Eliza Brown, an avid watcher of the Red Wings and long time fan, commented on the goaltending issue.
“I don’t think it’s a goalie thing as a whole. I think it’s a team effort as well as goaltending, but a goalie only has so many shots” Brown said. This is a very good point; keeping the other team from scoring is a team effort. Starting with the offense not turning pucks over and tracking back if they do. Defense comes next, which has been an issue for the Red Wings for a while. The Red Wings defense has a habit of not marking and covering the opposing team’s offense correctly. All of those points combine into the goaltending and defense problem that the Wings have at the moment.
Johnson says, “The Wings tailed off in March partly due to coaching you could say. But the main reason they tailed off was due to guys playing with injuries” When asked about the problems the Red Wings had in March.
With captain Dylan Larkin sustaining multiple injuries from The Four Nations Face-Off and not being able to play at his best, to other key players like Patrick Kane being unavailable for games at a time, The Detroit Red Wings’ cause for the slump in March can be attributed to numerous injuries and the dropoff in goaltending quality. Defensive awareness dropping is another cause for poor goaltending and injuries. Overall, the season was full of ups and downs. The downs that started in March were the largest and ended up causing the Red Wings to miss the playoffs again.
